Amazon says Prime Video now makes real profit and tens of billions a year

Amazon says the video service that comes with Prime is now a money maker. CEO Andy Jassy told investors on Thursday's earnings call that Prime Video has "a revenue run rate in the tens of billions of dollars and is now profitable in its own right." Run rate means the yearly revenue you would get if the current pace held.

What changed

Jassy first said in May that Prime Video was profitable. The new detail is the size: tens of billions of dollars a year. Amazon did not give an exact revenue or profit figure in the material available. It also did not say how much of the money comes from ads, subscriptions or other sources.

The news comes four years after Amazon bought the MGM movie studio for $8.5 billion. That deal now looks better, helped by this year's hit film Project Hail Mary.

The hits behind the numbers

• Amazon MGM Studios has brought in more than $1.2 billion at the global box office so far this year.
• Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, grossed an estimated $684 million worldwide. It is the studio's biggest release.
• Reacher season 4 drew 66 million viewers worldwide in its first 28 days, according to Amazon.
• Not every film worked. Melania was a notable flop this year.

Jassy also named Carrie, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Boys, Off Campus and Fallout as hit shows. Reacher season 5 is filming now, and a sixth season has been ordered.

Sports are pulling in viewers

Prime Video also shows NASCAR, the Masters and UEFA Champions League soccer. Thursday Night Football looks like its biggest sports success this year. The first six games of the season averaged 17.7 million viewers, up 16% from last year, based on Nielsen figures Amazon shared. Nielsen also said the second season of the NBA on Prime drew over 2 million viewers.

What it means

For viewers, the free video that comes with Prime is no longer a side perk. It is now a business in its own right, so expect Amazon to keep spending on shows, movies and sports. What is not yet known is how Amazon splits the money, or how much profit the service makes.